The present invention relates to motor vehicle seats, and in particular to rear bench seats of the xe2x80x9cthird rowxe2x80x9d type for vehicles of the minivan or xe2x80x9cpeople carrierxe2x80x9d type.
More particularly, the invention relates to a motor vehicle seat comprising:
a seat proper mounted to pivot about a first substantially horizontal axis between:
a passenger position in which it extends substantially horizontally between a front edge, close to the first axis, and a rear edge distant from the first axis;
an intermediate position, in which it extends substantially vertically between the front edge and the rear edge; and
a load position, in which it extends also substantially horizontally between the front edge and the rear edge, but with the rear edge being situated, in this position, on the side of the first axis that is opposite from the side on which it is situated in the passenger position;
a seat back mounted to pivot about a second horizontal axis, between:
an upright position, in which it extends substantially vertically between a bottom edge close to the second axis, and a top edge distant from the second axis; and
a folded-away position, in which it extends substantially horizontally between its top edge which, in this folded-away position, is situated in the vicinity of the first axis, and its bottom edge which remains close to the second axis; and
control means for controlling pivoting of the seat proper about the first axis, between its passenger, intermediate, and load positions.
Seats of this type are already known in which the seat proper is caused to pivot from its passenger position to its intermediate position by simultaneously actuating the control means and the seat proper. That type of seat suffers from the drawback of requiring both hands to be used.
An object of the present invention is, in particular, to mitigate that drawback.
To this end, the invention provides a seat in which, in addition to the above-mentioned characteristics, the control means comprise:
a lever that can be actuated manually over a first stroke between a first locking position, corresponding to the seat proper being in the passenger position, and a second locking position, corresponding to seat proper being in the intermediate position; and
resilient return means adapted to cause the seat proper to tilt automatically from its passenger position to its intermediate position, when the lever is actuated over the first stroke.
By means of these provisions, one hand suffices to operate the lever, the seat proper being pivoted from its passenger position to its intermediate position under the drive from the return means.
In preferred embodiments of the invention, it is optionally possible to use one or more of the following additional provisions:
the control means further comprise a cam that is secured to the lever, and a catch adapted to co-operate with the cam, when the lever is in its first locking position, and to lock the seat proper in its passenger position;
the cam is adapted to move the catch, when the lever is actuated over its first stroke, to release the seat proper so as to enable it to pivot about the first axis, under the drive from the return means;
the lever can be actuated manually over a second stroke between the second locking position and a third locking position, corresponding to the seat proper being in the load position;
the return means are adapted to tilt the seat proper automatically from its intermediate position to its load position, when the lever is actuated over the second stroke; the seat proper is then pivoted between its passenger, intermediate, and load positions by means of a single control member, namely the lever, thereby avoiding the risk of error suffered by prior art seats in which pivoting from the passenger position to the intermediate position, and pivoting from the intermediate position to the load position are effected by means of two distinct control members, when the correct order in which the control members should be actuated is not complied with;
the control means further comprise a link for preventing the seat proper from pivoting about the first axis, from its intermediate position to its load position;
the lever is adapted to move the link when the lever is actuated over its second stroke to release the seat proper to enable it to pivot about the first axis, under the drive from the return means, from its intermediate position to its load position; and
the control means and the resilient return means are situated on respective sides of the seat proper, i.e. at opposite ends as considered in a transverse direction parallel to the first axis.